1. Tell us a bit about yourself, your background/experience, and your connection and/or interest in the Perry Schools. What are your reasons for seeking a position on the board?

I've been involved with education for over 32 years, beginning my experience with the Anita Community Schools in 1987 as the transportation director/head bus driver/mechanic, and maintaining that position for 8 years. My wife and I then moved to Fort Dodge where I actually held four jobs at the same time - morning host of radio stations KUEL and KVFD, school bus driver, charter bus driver, and Realtor. In 1998 I became the transportation director at Perry Schools for 5 years, then moving to the Iowa Department of Education in 2003, where I currently work, as the school transportation consultant and executive officer. My interest and connection with Perry Schools comes from the fact I've worked here in the past, my wife Lisa is employed here and has worked here for 17 years, and both of my children go to school here - Isaiah is in 5th grade and Olivia is in 7th grade. My reason for seeking a position on the board is very simple - to bring back fairness to how the teachers are treated in our school district. Since the removal of collective bargaining from the contract process, I feel that all school employees have lost a great deal of bargaining power in the process. I know from watching what my wife goes through on a daily basis, teaching is not an easy occupation even under the best of circumstances. And with losing collective bargaining, a tough job has become all the more difficult because of the uncertainties associated with holding that job along with a loss of benefits. Perry used to be a school where teachers would ascend to, and once they got here, they would stay because it was a great place to work. In many ways, Perry is now just a stepping stone on the way to someplace better. We need to bring Perry back to being that "better place" where teachers want to come to work because of what we offer. That's how you attract new talent, and also hold on to the amazing talent we already have.

2. What are some of the strengths and weaknesses you see in our district?

The strengths are very obvious to me - we have an overall great teaching staff! They simply need to be supported. Another strength in our district is the diversity of our student body. When I grew up, there was zero diversity in the school I attended. My kids are so lucky to have this diversity in Perry which will allow them to better understand the world and how it works and how we all must work and live together.

The weaknesses are several. I'd like to see better use of online classes to fill in gaps to our current curriculum. I think we're weak in foreign languages. I'd like to see as much emphasis and support to the performing arts as we see for athletics. And going back to where I started with this question - our teaching staff, and all staff, need to be better supported. The elimination of collective bargaining didn't mean Perry Schools were required to follow that model, but the current board seems to have decided to follow that path rather than stay on a path of supporting and building up the staff. They could have chosen to model their support per the old collective bargaining rules, but instead have chosen to follow their own path.

3. What is your opinion of the new public employee bargaining law?

I think it's wrong and needs to be fixed. It originally came into effect in 1974 and worked great for over 40 years. Suddenly, instead of being, as the name implied, "collective bargaining", it now is pretty much a one-sided bargaining. This model has proven to be very shortsighted and unsuccessful in other states, and we're now seeing the effects of it here in Iowa.

One thing that upsets me beyond reason, is the language of the law. In 1974, collective bargaining was used as a way to avoid teacher strikes. The legislature basically traded one for the other. When collective bargaining was thrown out, the language forbidding strikes by teachers was maintained. That alone tells you all you need to know about the powers and politics behind this change. While I generally believe it's better to sit down, talk things out, and come to a collective compromise, I also believe strikes do have a place in the employee/employer equation. Having the rights of collective bargaining taken away, but maintaining the no-strike clause was just wrong. I believe teachers should have the right to strike as a way of having their voices heard.

4. Do you support maintaining a comprehensive master contract that includes all legal items that were previously included in the contract under the old collective bargaining law?

Absolutely! Please see my answer above in question #2.

5. Do you support maintaining all benefits (including health insurance) that were bargained under the old law but are now excluded from bargaining?

Again, absolutely! While I'm not a teacher, my position at the Department of Education falls under the same collective bargaining laws. I'm upset by the same lack of bargaining as the teachers at Perry Schools and most all other schools in the State of Iowa. I fully understand the concerns and uncertainties that the new public employee bargaining law has brought to all of us.

6. If necessary, where would you cut the school budget? What would consider off-limits to budget cuts? Why?

For one thing, I believe the administrators should live under the same conditions as the teachers. If the teachers take a cut in some area, the administrators should take the same cut. In the past, we've had teaching positions eliminated but at the same time, our administrators have gotten a pay raise. Really??? As far as I'm concerned, if even one position is eliminated due to budget cuts, the administrators should get zero for a pay raise. It's their job to balance the budget as need be. If they cant' budget it in such a way as to maintain all needed positions, then why should they get a pay raise? I don't think there are any "big" areas to cut the budget, but instead it needs to be cut in many small areas. Nearly every area has a little fat on it that can be trimmed. As to off-limits budget cuts - I'm not sure anything should be off-limits. To maintain a sound fiscal policy, everything should be open to trimming the fat.

7. Why do you think our association should support you?

I've been involved for many years in many of the processes and concerns you share, all the way from the bargaining process to how to trim budgets. I've got a wife who works at the school and two children who attend the school. I live in Perry. I believe I'm very well informed in these areas and more, and I believe I understand the challenges you face, and those you will face in the coming years. I have a real stake in where these conversations go, and with my background in communications from my radio days, I believe I would be best able to communicate these concerns to others who may not share the same concerns.